Yoon eyes foreign students, spouses as domestic helpers

President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered South Korean government ministries to explore ways to help South Korean families hire foreign students and marriage migrants as domestic helpers, doubling down on a troubled program designed to address the country's low fertility rate. Conservatives such as Yoon and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon have proposed hiring foreign nannies at below minimum wage for some time, but faced difficulties in putting the plan into action. Presiding over a meeting at his office to discus

April 4, 2024

Skepticism clouds young voters ahead of general election

Bae Yu-jin, a 33-year-old office worker in Seoul, has made several plans for April 10, when the nation’s 22nd legislative election is set to take place. But heading to the polls is not one of them. “I’m going to Daegu with my friend to blow off some steam,” Bae told The Korea Herald on Thursday. “I don’t think I’m going to vote this year. The past few months have been full of fighting and criticizing (between the two rival parties), and I don’t tru

April 4, 2024

Early voting for parliamentary elections to kick off Friday

Early voting for next week's parliamentary elections will kick off Friday for a two-day run, the election watchdog said. Eligible voters will be able to cast ballots at 3,565 polling stations nationwide from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the two-day period, according to the National Election Commission. The NEC said that thorough preparations will be made to ensure voters can cast their votes with confidence in the fairness of the process, particularly in light of the recent discovery of spy cameras a

April 4, 2024

April 10 election sees record overseas voter turnout

Overseas voter turnout for the April 10 general election hit an all-time high of 62.8 percent, but experts on Wednesday were divided as to whether the number will play a significant role in determining the fate of the South Korean legislative body. The state watchdog National Election Commission said in tentative data released Tuesday that 92,923 of an estimated 148,000 eligible overseas voters had cast their ballots for the upcoming election. Polls were open for a total of six days, from March

April 3, 2024

Seoul eyes 'all-time high' R&D budget for 2025

South Korea's budget related to technology research and development for 2025 will "reach an all-time high," reversing course from the 14.7 percent budget cut for this year's R&D projects that baffled scientists here, according to the presidential office on Wednesday. Park Sang-ook, senior presidential secretary for science and technology, said in a press briefing in Seoul that Korea will "exponentially increase" the R&D budget, though he did not elaborate on the speci

April 3, 2024

South Korea sanctions Russians for helping North Korea

South Korea imposed sanctions on two Russian individuals and two other entities over the transfer of arms with North Korea and involvement in helping North Korea finance its nuclear and missile programs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul said Tuesday that two Russian ships used in arms transfers as well as two Russian organizations and their leaders have been designated as sanctions targets. Two Russian vessels -- Lady R and Angara -- were involved in shipping containers of military suppl

April 2, 2024

Election candidates seek to win votes from pet owners

Several candidates running for the April 10 general election have rolled out pledges to attract votes from pet owners in recent weeks, including tax benefits and setting up pet-friendly systems and facilities. Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Kim Byung-wook, who is running for the Bundang-B constituency -- one of the two constituencies in the Bundang district located in Seoul's satellite city of Seongnam -- sees pet owners as key voters. Kim pledged to build a budget pet hotel

April 2, 2024

Yoon envisions 2nd presidential office, relocation of parliament to Sejong

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Tuesday his administration was moving to establish a new presidential office and a parliament branch in Sejong, the de facto administrative capital of South Korea. The new branch of the presidential office, currently located in Yongsan-gu of Seoul near the Yongsan Garrison of the US Forces Korea, will contribute to "breaking down barriers between the presidential office and the government" and at the same time boost Yoon's public engagement, Yoon said

April 2, 2024

[Election Battlefield] ‘Mini presidential election’ unfolds in Incheon

INCHEON -- In a district in Incheon, two potential presidential candidates are in a neck-and-neck race to secure a National Assembly seat on April 10. The ruling People Power Party candidate is Won Hee-ryong, previously the minister of land and transport under President Yoon Suk Yeol. The 60-year-old was a candidate in the party’s presidential primary in 2021, and boasts a winning track record against Democratic Party of Korea rivals so far in all of the five elections he has run in. He is

April 1, 2024

Korea unveils next-generation bullet train

South Korea on Monday unveiled the KTX Cheong-ryong, a new class of bullet train that boasts a maximum speed of 320 kilometers per hour. The new high-speed train is the first domestically designed and manufactured one with a peak speed surpassing 300 kilometers per hour. South Korea launched its homegrown bullet train, the KTX-Sancheon, in 2008 for the first time. Beginning in May, the KTX Cheong-ryong will operate four times a day between Seoul and Busan in southeastern Korea, and twice a day b

April 1, 2024

Yoon says 'open to talks' but doctors express disappointment

President Yoon Suk Yeol said Monday that he is open to talks with doctors if they can suggest a more plausible option than his administration's plan of adding 2,000 more medical students a year, seeking a breakthrough in a prolonged medical standoff that has apparently been affecting the ruling party's election campaign. Pointing to doctors' failure to refute his administration's plan to increase the school quota by 2,000 to 5,058 per year starting in 2025, Yoon said in a tel

April 1, 2024

[Bills in Focus] Game user protection, fostering AI industry

Proposed Bills: Partial Amendment to the Game Industry Promotion Act Proposed by Rep. Kim Seung-su (People Power Party) ●This amendment ensures users can receive compensation for damages caused by intentional indication of misinformation for probabilistic game items by introducing a punitive damages system that mandates a compensation of twice the maximum damages. Game companies must prove that there was no intention or negligence in not displaying or falsely displaying probabilistic game item i

April 1, 2024

US seeking trilateral summit with S. Korea, Japan in July: report

The United States is in talks with South Korea and Japan to arrange a trilateral summit on the sidelines of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit to be held in Washington in July, a report said Sunday. According to Japan's Kyodo News, which quoted diplomatic sources, U.S. President Joe Biden is considering inviting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the NATO event and holding the trilateral summit on the margins. The three leaders

March 31, 2024

Yoon attends Easter service at church

President Yoon Suk Yeol attended an Easter service at church Sunday and stressed the need to practice love and solidarity in the spirit of the Christian celebration, according to his office. In his remarks during the service at Myungsung Presbyterian Church in eastern Seoul, Yoon said that at a time when the country is faced with serious challenges within and outside, everyone should reflect on and practice the true meaning of Easter. Noting that Jesus showed the infinite love of freeing humanit

March 31, 2024

Democratic Party gains momentum, takes lead in poll

  Over 45 percent of South Korea's voters are leaning towards supporting candidates from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea in the upcoming April 10 general election, to keep the Yoon Suk Yeol government in check. The results of a poll conducted by Jowon C&I, commissioned by The Korea Herald and Herald Business from Mar. 25 to 27, indicate a positive trend for the Democratic Party on Sunday. Out of the total of 4,041 respondents aged 18 or older, 45.1 percent responded that &

March 31, 2024

Rival parties' leaders woo voters in capital area ahead of April 10 election

Political rival parties escalated their campaigns for the April 10 general election on Sunday, particularly in the wider capital area, which constitutes about half of the 300 seats in the National Assembly and thus holds significant sway over the election outcome. Surrounded by cheering supporters, the leaders of the country's two major parties held rival events in Greater Seoul on Sunday. The move is aimed at winning voters in the capital area since the number of seats chosen by direct vot

March 31, 2024

Yoon calls for US lawmakers' support for S. Korean firms

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday called on a group of US lawmakers to support South Korean companies operating in the world's largest economy, the presidential office said. Yoon made the request to the visiting US delegation in Seoul while discussing measures to strengthen bilateral ties in a wide range of areas from security, economy and technology to culture and space, according to his office. "Active investment and economic cooperation between South Korea and the United States have

March 29, 2024

[Photo News] Special instructor for the day

President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers a lecture about the 2023 launch of the Nuri rocket after making a surprise appearance at a class of first graders as a special instructor for the after-school Neulbom program at Ain Elementary School in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, Friday. Yoon's class involved a presentation of a video about the domestically manufactured rocket, reading the children a book about space and rockets and hands-on activities to teach the class about rocket propulsion, according

March 29, 2024

Yoon approves resignation of ambassador to Australia amid controversy over his appointment

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday approved the resignation of Ambassador to Australia Lee Jong-sup amid mounting criticism of his appointment and departure that came despite the fact that he was subject to an investigation. Lee offered his resignation earlier Friday, 25 days after he was appointed to the position, as he has been under intense scrutiny since he was named the ambassador in Canberra early this month, after revelations that he had been banned from leaving the country over the invest

March 29, 2024

Spy cameras found at 26 early voting stations nationwide: interior ministry

The interior ministry said Friday it has inspected all early voting stations across the country ahead of the April 10 parliamentary elections and found spy cameras at 26 facilities as of 6 p.m. The inspection took place a day after police detained a YouTuber in his 40s on suspicions of installing spy cameras at early voting polling stations in two cities -- Incheon and Yangsan --, where early voting will take place. Police said they have found spy cameras at five stations in Incheon, west of Seo

March 29, 2024